Open Skies
by ChocolatteKitty-Kat
Summary: Part 2 of 3. Continuation of "Our Island". The Masons and friends run from the Espheni and Volm, trying to hatch a plan to fight the aliens. AU after season 3. Rated K for violence and mild language, but may change to T.


**A/N: This is part 2 of a three-part series I'm doing. Part 1 can be found on my profile and is called "Our Island". I think you could** ** _technically_** **read this one without reading that one, but I'd encourage reading that one first.**

 **Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I own only the story and OCs. I am not making money off of this. Any and all characters you recognize from the Falling Skies TV show are NOT mine. Thank you.**

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

Introduction:

 _Three years ago, the skies fell._

 _Three years and two months ago, the Espheni began their siege of the Earth._

 _Three years and two months ago, humanity was nearly wiped out._

 _But we fought back._

 _When the skies fell, the Earth rose._

Chapter 1:

 **It's been three years since the skitters arrived. They attacked Earth completely unprovoked. First, they set off electronic wave bombs to disable all electronics; next, they destroyed all capitals and major cities; then they started to hunt down and kill all remaining humans. Children, generally those from 8-19, but sometimes those even younger, were captured by the skitters and parasites we call harnesses were put on their backs to control them. The humans who survived the initial attack fought back. They formed resistance units, although many of these were quickly wiped out.**

 **A major resistance rose in Charleston, South Carolina, which soon became the new capital of the New United States. Refugees flocked to Charleston and the safety and civilization it promised. Around a year and a half after the attack, Charleston was visited by a new race of aliens: the Volm. The Volm enlisted the human resistance against the Espheni and skitters. Nine months after the arrival of the Volm, a group of humans known as the 2** **nd** **Massachusetts regiment led an attack on the Espheni defense tower in Boston along with the Volm. The tower was destroyed and the main Volm force was able to land. However, the Volm turned on their human allies and attempted to send them to a concentration camp in Brazil. The 2** **nd** **Mass escaped from Boston and began to make their way back to Charleston.**

 **On their way to Charleston, the 2** **nd** **Mass encountered a branch of the skitter rebellion. Several of the de-harnessed children that were part of the rebellion chose to join the 2** **nd** **Mass. They journeyed with them to Charleston, where they warned the people there of the Volm's plan to send them to Brazil. It has been ten months since this, and the third anniversary of the attack has past. Now, the Volm are closing in.**

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

 _My name is Abigale Martin. I am eighteen years old. I was fifteen when the Espheni came. A few months after the attack started, I was captured by skitters and harnessed. About five months later, I was rescued by the skitter rebellion and de-harnessed. I joined the rebels to fight their overlords. I formed a pack with seven other de-harnessed kids, or spike-backs: Jimmy, Dallon, Harlem, Summer, Amanda, Mariah, and Colm. We fought with the rebellion until we found the 2_ _nd_ _Mass, the group of people Jimmy had originally been with. By this time, it had been just over two years since the assault. My pack joined up with the 2_ _nd_ _Mass and travelled with them to Charleston. On the way there, Dallon and Harlem left to rejoin the rebels. When we arrived in Charleston, we realized that the anti-skitter sentiments there were too strong for us to stay safely, so we left, along with two other spike-backs: Deni and Ben._

 _It has been ten months since then. Dallon returned to us, bearing news that the rebels were all-but wiped out and Harlem had been killed. We encountered Espheni patrols a few times, and Mariah and Amanda were both killed, although the rest of us survived. We were joined off and on by other spike-backs, but never for long._

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

Korinne gasped and clutched her round stomach. 'Korie?' seven-year-old Alexis called, concerned, from the other side of the room. 'Are you okay?'

'Lexie, honey, I need you to do something for me,' Korinne gasped, sitting down on a nearby chair. 'I need you to run to your room and get Matt and bring him here.'

'Okay,' Lexie nodded, obediently jumping up and running out of the door of Korinne and her husband, Jon's, room. Within a few minutes, she returned with her older brother Matt.

'Korie!' Matt exclaimed, hurrying to his sister-in-law's side. 'Are you okay?'

'Matt, I need you to help me to the infirmary,' Korinne replied calmly. 'I'm having my baby.'

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

'That can't be good,' Hal Mason said grimly, staring into the distance through a pair of binoculars.

'What?' his partner, dark-haired Steve Pickett, demanded, jumping to his feet and hurrying to Hal's side. 'What do you see?'

'Look,' Hal replied, handing the binoculars to Steve. He waited patiently as Steve looked through the binoculars and found what he had seen.

Steve swore under his breath and handed the binoculars back to Hal. 'Bubble-head or skitter?'

'Definitely Volm,' Hal grimaced. He turned around and hopped off of the low wall of the observation post. 'Let's go. We have to warn Charleston.'

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

'Korie!' Jon cried, rushing into his wife's room in the infirmary. 'Baby, I'm here.'

'Hey,' Korinne smiled at him.

'This is going to be a fast labor,' Anne said from the end of the bed.

'Oh, good,' Korinne breathed, relieved.

'But it will still take a few hours,' Anne added.

'Great,' Korinne groaned.

'You'll be fine,' Anne smiled reassuringly. 'I'm going to do a round. I'll be back in an hour. If anything changes, Jon, come find me.'

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

'Dad!' Hal called as he and Steve tore into Charleston on their dirtbikes and found Tom standing with Matt and Colonel Dan Weaver near the entry to the city.

'Volm?' Tom called, alarmed, when he saw the serious expressions on Hal and Steve's faces.

Hal nodded.

'You guys know the plan,' Tom sighed. 'Matt, run and tell the president. I'll sound the alarm, then head for the infirmary for Anne and Lourdes. Hal, get Maggie and Joy and Lexie. Steve, find your family. Dan, you've got Jeanne and Diego. Matt, once you've talked to Marina, go to Popetown and find the Berserkers; see if they're still planning to come with us.'

'What about Jon and Korie?' Hal asked. 'Are they back in the rooms?'

'No, they're in the infirmary,' Tom replied. 'I'll get them. Meet at the Liberty Tree.'

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

'Lourdes!' Anne shouted, pushing through the sudden rush of people in the infirmary to get to her student's side. 'Lourdes, do you know what's going on?'

'The Volm are getting close,' Lourdes replied, looking alarmed.

'Oh no,' Anne breathed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Get to the Liberty Tree and wait for the 2nd Mass. I need to wait for Tom.'

'What about Korinne?' Lourdes demanded as the crowd pulled her towards the door.

'We'll figure it out!' Anne replied, turning to go back to Korinne's room.

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

'Tector!' Matt shouted, bursting into Pope's bar and catching sight of the former sniper. 'Tector, where's Pope?'

'Upstairs, little man,' Tector replied. 'What's wrong? Where's the fire?'

'The Volm are coming!' Matt replied, already running for the stairs to the upper level of the bar.

Tector swore and grabbed his gun from the table beside him. 'Lyle! Grab your guns! We're leaving!'

The giant behind the bar complied, producing a shotgun from behind the bar and placing it on the bartop before producing a pair of pistols and sliding them into his holsters.

'I got Craze, you get Anthony and Curly!' Tector called as he hurried for the back room. Lyle sprinted out of the bar, heading for the house the Berserkers had claimed. Seconds later, Pope tore down the stairs, followed closely by Matt, and out the door for the motorcycles his group kept fueled and ready near the bar.

'Start up the pick-up and make sure it's fueled,' Pope ordered, tossing Matt the keys to the pick-up truck.

Matt caught the keys and climbed into the truck cab. After several seconds, the old pick-up roared to life. Matt stuck his head out the window and called to Pope: 'The meter says she's full!'

'Good!' Pope shouted back. 'Wait for Tec and Craze!'

Almost immediately, Tector and Crazy Lee appeared from the bar, each toting a backpack and Tector carrying his sniper rifle. Matt scooted over in the single bench seat of the pick-up as Craze and Tector climbed in. Tector shifted the truck into gear as Lyle, Anthony, and Curly appeared, toting Dr. Kadar behind them. 'We'll meet you at the tree!' Tector called out the window as he drove away.

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

'Weaver!' Hal called as he and Maggie approached the tree, Maggie cradling their baby girl Joy in her arms and Hal carrying Lexie on his hip. Weaver stood next to the Liberty Tree with his daughter Jeanne and her fiancée Diego. 'Have you seen anyone else?' Hal asked as he and Maggie joined the Weavers and he set down Lexie.

Weaver shook his head. 'They better hurry.' He scanned the throngs of people running, terrified, through the square in every direction. The Picketts appeared and hurried towards the group forming next to the tree, Steve and Luke pushing dirtbikes and Bibby leading a small dog on a leash.

'You're not seriously bringing that thing?' Hal raised an eyebrow at the dog.

'Well, I can't leave him here!' Bibby snapped.

Hal rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else. He watched as people cleared the way for an old rusty pick-up that trundled into the square and parked next to the tree. Matt hopped out of the passenger side and hurried over to his brother. 'Where are Mom and Dad?'

'Not here yet,' Hal replied, glancing back at the infirmary. 'They should be here any minute.'

Matt nodded. 'There's another seat in the front of the truck.'

Hal nodded. 'Korinne should probably ride there.'

'Can Craze take Joy?' Maggie asked. 'If she can, I'll ride on Hal's bike with him.'

'She can!' Craze called around Tector. 'She's blind, not deaf, so she can hear, too!'

Maggie walked around the truck and opened the passenger door. She climbed up and handed two-month-old Joy to Craze, settling the make-shift diaper bag on the floor by Craze's feet. 'If you need anything, just let me know.' Craze nodded as she accepted Joy and settled the baby on her lap.

Maggie hopped out as Lourdes joined the group, panting from the run. 'Anne is waiting for Tom with Jon and Korie in the infirmary,' she answered Hal's unanswered question. She looked at the truck, then hurried to the back and looked in the bed. 'Do people have blankets we can put here?' she called, releasing the gate and climbing into the bed.

'Why?' Hal asked, moving to the back of the truck as Lourdes put her things in the back of the bed.

'Korie's in labor and they're probably going to have to deliver the baby on the go,' Lourdes replied, pushing loose dirt off of the bed. 'At the very least, she needs somewhere she can lie down until we find somewhere else.'

'Great,' Hal groaned. He slipped off his backpack and pulled the sleeping bag attached to the bottom off, tossing it to Lourdes, who then unrolled it and spread it out. The others handed her their blankets and Bibby crawled into the bed to help Lourdes set it up after handing the leash to her dog to Matt. 'Lexie and Matt, in the truck,' Hal ordered as Pope and the other bikers pulled up, Kadar clinging nervously to Anthony.

'Where's everyone going to ride?' Jeanne said nervously as she helped Lexie into the truck.

'I still have my pick-up from when we came back here from Boston,' Weaver spoke up. 'It's near the edge of town. Diego and I will go get it.'

'Great,' Hal nodded. 'Hurry!' he called as they ran off.

'Lukey and I can share my bike and our dad can take the other,' Steve suggested.

'That'll be great,' Hal agreed. 'Maggie and I will take mine. Jeanne, you'll ride with your dad; do you think Bibby can come with you?' Jeanne nodded wordlessly, and Hal turned to the Berserkers. 'I guess Anne, Lourdes, Jon, and Korie will ride in the bed of this truck. My dad'll need a ride.'

'He can ride with me,' Pope said.

'Hal!' Tom shouted as he approached with Jon, Korie, and Anne. Tom and Jon were carrying Korie, with Anne running close behind.

'Here!' Lourdes called. Hal climbed into the bed to help Tom and Jon lift Korie in. He and Bibby hopped out as Jon and Anne climbed in.

'Dad, you're with Pope,' Hal said. 'Weaver went for his truck; we can put the supplies in the back of that.'

'Good,' Tom nodded. 'We'll go as far as we can, then find somewhere sheltered for Korie. Once she's clear, we'll have to keep moving again.'

'What about Ben?' Hal asked. 'Are we going to look for them?'

'No,' Tom shook his head. 'Ben said that they would find us when we left.'

'Do we know where we're going?' Pope called mockingly.

'West, for now,' Tom replied. 'East is coast, north is out of the question, and if we go south, we'll just have the Volm on our tails. We can head west, then circle north behind them into territory they've already cleared.'

'Guess that's the best plan we've got,' Pope grumbled. Weaver pulled up in his pick-up, Diego in the bed of the truck, and shifted into park.

'Let's go, people!' Weaver barked, leaning out the truck's open window. The group jumped into action, pitching their bags of supplies into the bed with Diego. Jeanne and Bibby climbed into the cab, and everyone mounted their bikes. Maggie slammed the gate of Tector's pick-up shut before joining Hal on his bike. The mini caravan sped out of Charleston and into the west.

 **.*.*.*.*.*.**

 **A/N: Okay, so let's clear a few things up. Crazy Lee didn't die when she got that rebar through her head, but she did go blind. I had a reason for this, but I have since forgotten it so just go with it. Also, Jon is Tom's oldest son. See "Our Island" for that explanation.**

 **Also, I shouldn't have to state this, but it's AU. It was written before season 4, so I may incorporate themes/characters/events/etc. from that into it, as this is only half written, but I don't know yet. Now you know. Yay. Bye.**


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